The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan had recently organised a three-day festival of Indian classical music and dance titled Sangeet Samaroh at the Capital’s Kamani Auditorium.
On the second day of the festival, the popular violin siblings Lalgudi GJR Krishnan and Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi were featured in a violin duet concert. Since the violin duet concert was scheduled after a dance and a vocal concert, the duo could start playing at around quarter past eight in the evening, which took away some of the sheen on the most looked forward concert in the festival. The organiser should consider a better format for the festival, including scheduling only one but longer duration recital for an enhanced and full-fledged concert experience.
Nevertheless, the siblings and disciples of violin maestro late Lalgudi G. Jayaraman, did enthral music lovers albeit in a shorter violin recital close to an hour and quarter. Torchbearers of ‘Lagudi bani’, the duo’s recital was noteworthy for their gayaki style of musical expression in which the sahitya and emotions of the songs being played emerges clearly.
Lalgudi Jayaraman has composed several compositions, including varnams which are taken up as an opening item by musicians in their concerts. One expected that Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi too would start their concert with a varnam of Lalgudi (as he is popularly known). However, it was a disappointment. The duo started their concert straight away with Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer’s composition ‘Sri sankara guruvaram’ in the raga Nagasvarali, perhaps owing to the late start of the concert and the limited time at their disposal. The detailed and delightful kalpanaswaras they affixed towards the end of this composition mitigated one’s disappointment.
Krishnan-Vijayalakshmi duo then embarked to take up a composition for detailed presentation, which was Muthuswami Dikshitar’s ‘Minakshi Memudam’ in the raga Purvikalyani. The duo handled the composition in a fine manner to a riveting rhythm. Besides, the younger sibling Vijayalakshmi presented a scintillating alapana of the raga. They then played Tyagaraja’s ‘Atu Karadani’ in the raga Manoranjani in an emotive manner.
Sensing that it was time for rendering another composition in detail, the two next took up the popular kriti of Tyagaraja ‘Pakkala Nilabadi’ in the raga Kharaharapriya. In a detailed and seemingly unhurried delineation of the raga, the elder sibling Krishnan brought out the features of this raga to the fore to the delight of the music lovers. The duo’s depth in creative skills too came to fore when they presented neraval of the phrase “Manasuna Talachi Mai” (albeit briefly) and kalpanaswaras in detailed manner.
Krishnan-Vijayalakshmi’s concluding session included a enjoyable bhajan (in Misramand raga) and as expected a Lalgudi’s thillana (in the raga Sindhu Bhairavi). Chennai based B. Harikumar on the mridangam and Alathur T. Rajaganesh on the kanjira provided excellent support to the two. The percussionists’ softer yet riveting rhythmic beats were of constant embellishment to the concert.On the whole, it was a rewarding and delightful experience of instrumental music recital.
